Take Care

Uprise Art is pleased to present Take Care, an exhibition of new work by Andrew Alba, Brittany Ferns, and Kate Roebuck.

Painted with gestural brushstrokes in impasto oil, Alba’s layered canvases explore concepts of family, grief, and the body as a site of connection and renewal. Flowers recur throughout his work, often signaling care, remembrance, and loss. They provide moments of softness and attentiveness, suggesting that tenderness can coexist with sorrow. In Alba’s practice, the bond between land and body is fluid and intermingled, sharing the rhythms of growth and rest.

In 'Take Care', drawing on nature as an allegory, Alba, Ferns, and Roebuck explore the cycles of life, the ways personal and natural worlds intertwine, and how careful attention to our surroundings can reveal the interconnected systems that bind and shape us all.

Ferns’ oil and wax paintings on linen are patinated and textured, as if they’ve lived many lives. Each work bears the appearance of the gentle wear that comes from deep attention and affection, like a beloved object handled so often it becomes smooth. Her paintings depict women cupping a small bird, holding a juicy lemon, and embracing (and being embraced by) a knowing moon. The works serve as a folkloric reflection on communing with nature, protecting what is vulnerable, and celebrating the infinite worlds that each person carries within.

In Roebuck’s meandering botanical compositions, silhouetted branches and vines sprawl across handmade paper and canvas in a tangle of watercolor and ink. The artist considers these to be a type of self-portrait; the plants she depicts often come from photos taken while on walks with her family, or from her expansive garden in Tennessee. Each plant becomes a marker of place, its twists and quirks mirroring Roebuck’s moods and emotions, creating a dialogue between the personal and the natural world.

In Take Care, drawing on nature as an allegory, Alba, Ferns, and Roebuck explore the cycles of life, the ways personal and natural worlds intertwine, and how careful attention to our surroundings can reveal the interconnected systems that bind and shape us all. Together, their work invites reflection on how intimacy, care, and observation, whether of the body, a plant, or the land, allow us to witness the subtle networks that sustain life.

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